Been on East State Street lately? How about North Second Street? Do you begin to see the resemblance to “Potterville,” the sleazy town in “It’s a Wonderful Life” that would have come about if George Bailey had jumped off that bridge instead of being saved by Clarence the cadet angel?

If major streets leading into the Rockford area are starting to look down-market it might have something to do with the proliferation of tiny video gambling parlors. All of the sudden they’re everywhere.

Finally, Loves Park has had the good sense to check the growth of the hole-in-the-wall betting shops, capping the number at 20.

This doesn’t affect established bars and restaurants that have liquor licenses. They apply directly to the Illinois Gaming Board for a video gambling permit; cities and counties have no say in the matter.

The law passed by Loves Park also requires these tiny betting shops to be at least 1,000 feet apart to prevent more side-by-side betting parlors like two we can think of on North Second.

Mayor Darryl Lindberg doesn’t mind having video gambling in his city and notes that there have been “zero police calls related to video gaming. No fights, no problems, and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Loves Park benefits from the machines, too. Lindberg says the city expects to rake in $500,000 this year from its cut of the proceeds.

We don’t object to video gambling in principle. But we like the step Loves Park has taken, too. There are only so many “Miss Floozy’s” we can take.

We think the Rockford City Council should consider a similar limit. After all, is video gambling what we want visitors to remember about coming into the city?

Thanks to Loves Park for leading the way on this issue.

Farewell to true public servant

When Mike Duffy took the reins as South Beloit School District superintendent in the 1990s he knew he had a big job ahead of him.

“When I arrived here, our thought process was ‘Our kids aren’t going anywhere, they’re not going to college, they’re not going to succeed.’ And we kind of turned that around,” Duffy said in 2010, shortly before he retired.

It took time, but the leader helped turn the district around. The year before he retired, South Beloit High School was featured in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best high schools in the country.

Duffy didn’t stay retired for long.

Page 2 of 2 - In 2011, he was elected mayor of South Beloit with 57 percent of the vote. He continued on his mission to make the community of about 7,900 people better. A common complaint among candidates and residents was that City Council members were divided into opposing camps. Duffy said that wouldn’t happen under his watch. And it didn’t.

“City Council meetings are going to become very dull,” he said at the time. “Business will get done. We’re not going to fight and carry on, it just isn’t going to happen.”

Duffy oversaw the ongoing redevelopment work of the downtown corridor and creation of the city’s first Comprehensive Land Use plan among many other things.

Duffy, who died June 20 at 68, will be missed for the quality of his leadership and good nature. He was just a good guy.